Pioneer Log Homes of B.C. founder and owner Bryan Reid Sr. waves to the crowd from the Cedar Rocket during the Williams Lake Stampede Parade held July 1, 2017. The log car will sold to the highest bidder at the Barrett-Jackson Auction in Scottsdale, Arizona later this month. Angie Mindus photo

BC Company donates world’s fastest log car to sell for veterans

The world’s fastest log car will be go to the highest bidder at the Barrett-Jackson Auction in Scottsdale, Arizona later this month.

Two years after emerging as the world’s fastest log car, the Cedar Rocket is fulfilling its Williams Lake creators’ dream and will be auctioned this month to raise money for veterans groups.

“Often coined as the world’s most eco-friendly car, totally handcrafted over thousands of hours and inspired by the renewable resource of Mother Nature, this exclusive combination of electric, turbine and conventional wheel drive, is an example of ingenuity and a testament to the ability to create,” Bryan Reid Sr., founder and owner of Pioneer Log Homes of B.C. told the Tribune.

Reid and his long-time friend Gerald Overton Sr., designed the car together, using a single section of a Western Red Cedar harvested near Bella Bella, B.C.

Last week Reid left Williams Lake to take the log car to the Barrett-Jackson Auction Company in Scottsdale, Arizona where it will be sold to the highest bidder on Friday, Jan. 19.

From the very beginning, it was always the intention to donate 100 per cent of the auction proceeds exclusively to veterans groups, including the Royal Canadian Legion, the National Medal of Honor Museum Federation and Yellow Ribbon America, Reid explained.

Asked if he is sad to give it up, he responded with an emphatic “no.”

“It’s an honour to give it up,” he said. “It’s exciting to see it go for such a good cause. That is what is was originally designed for, that’s why I went to some of the most high profile shows in North America with it. Pioneer doesn’t need the advertising, we’ve got all the work we can handle.”

Reid described the Barrett-Jackson Auction as the largest and most prestigious auction in the world, adding he has attended it for 16 years.

“There’s everything there from classic to muscle cars, European cars, luxury cars, anything you can imagine.”

In 2016, Guinness World Records affirmed the Cedar Rocket set a new world record for the fastest motorized log after Reid drove it at the Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park in Chandle, Arizona on Jan. 20, 2016.

He achieved 76.625 kilometres an hour, which Guinness said was impressive, especially because of the car’s weight.

Aside from the log, the vehicle contains metal frames and axles, an electric motor, lead gel batteries stored in the nose and two turbines.

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Back in Williams Lake, the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 139 plans to hold a Veterans and First Responders dinner to thank everyone for looking after the community during the wildfires.